A Study of Adult T-Cell Leukemia Virus (ATLV) Infection in the Field of Obstetrics: Its Epidemiology, Vertical Transmission and Familial Clustering

Nine hundred and seventy-one healthy individuals in Iwate Prefecture, 659 pregnant women in Ishigaki Island, 487 pregnant women in Chiba Prefecture and 108 familial members of the ATLA-Ab-positive pregnant women (pregnant carrier women) were tested for ATLA-Ab by the PA, EIA and WB tests. 1) The rate of agreement of EIA with the PA test was 88.4% and there were no false negative sera by both examinations. These results indicate the both tests are available for mass screening. 2) In Iwate and Chiba Prefectures, the ATLA-Ab-positive rates of pregnant women were 5.3 and 0.6%, respectively. In addition, the incidences for healthy individuals ranged from 5.3 to 21.1% by age in Iwate Prefecture. Thus, Iwate Prefecture was found to equal Ishigaki Island (7.1%) in ATLA-Ab detection rates. 3) Forty-five (41.7%) out of 108 familial members of 15 pregnant carrier women were found to be seropositive for ATLA-Ab, which confirms a certain familial clustering of ATLV.